From PBS NewsHour.
A false statement spread by the incoming president and vice president about Haitian immigrants in a southwestern Ohio city was named PolitiFact’s "Lie of the Year" for 2024.
In early September, then-GOP vice-presidential nominee JD Vance amplified a false claim that had spread on social media about immigrants from Haiti living in Springfield, Ohio, stealing people’s pets and eating them.
The next day, during the presidential debate hosted by ABC News, then-Republican nominee Donald Trump repeated the claims. "In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country. And it’s a shame," he said.
In the days and hours leading up to the debate, local officials said they had "not been able to verify any credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community."
When presented with this information during the debate, Trump disagreed, saying that "the people on television say, ‘My dog was taken and used for food.’"
In televised interviews after the debate, Vance said national media outlets were not paying attention to the immigration issue during the campaign until he and Trump "started talking about cat memes."
"If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do," Vance said.
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